Deadly Hospital Germ Spreads Fast — Stays In ICU Rooms Long After Patients Leave, Study Finds

A new study has revealed that a dangerous hospital germ is spreading far more easily and quietly than experts once believed. The infection, caused by the bacteria Clostridium difficile (commonly known as C. diff), is found to move around intensive care units (ICUs) more than three times as often as previously thought. Published in JAMA Network Open, the research shows that C. diff can survive on surfaces in hospital ICUs for weeks and spread from patient to patient—even when those patients are not in the hospital at the same time.

“There's a lot going on under the hood that we're just not seeing,” said Dr. Michael Rubin, lead researcher and infectious disease specialist at the University of Utah. “If we ignore this, we’re putting patients at unnecessary risk.”

What is C. diff?

C. diff is a type of bacteria that can cause serious gastrointestinal illness, including diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and fever. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it usually infects people whose gut bacteria has been wiped out by strong antibiotics. Once the healthy gut bacteria are gone, C. diff takes over.

The infection can be deadly. About 6 per cent of those who get C. diff in the US die from it. What makes this bacterium particularly dangerous is that it forms tough spores that can survive on surfaces for long periods—even against cleaning products like alcohol-based sanitisers.

Not Just Patient-to-Patient

In the past, scientists believed C. diff mainly spread through direct contact between patients. But this new study challenges that idea.

The research team studied nearly 200 patients in two ICUs. They also collected thousands of samples from hospital room surfaces and health workers’ hands. Then, using genetic testing, they traced how the bacteria moved around the hospital.

They discovered that around 10 per cent of ICU patients had C. diff exposure—either on their body or in their hospital room. In most of these cases, the strain of bacteria found matched that of another patient, suggesting it was passed from one patient to another through the hospital environment.

Lead investigator Lindsay Keegan explained that while patient-to-patient transmission remains common, what’s new is how often C. diff moves between surfaces and from surfaces to patients. “It’s a lot more frequent than we thought,” she said.

In fact, when surface and hand contact were included in the analysis, the spread of C. diff was found to be 3.6 times higher than when only direct patient contact was considered.

Even more troubling is that more than half of the C. diff transmissions happened between patients who weren’t even in the hospital at the same time. In some instances, their visits were weeks apart.

This means that C. diff can live in a hospital room long after a patient has left, waiting to infect the next person who enters.

Prevention Is Key

The study shows the need for stronger infection control practices in hospitals. Dr Rubin stressed the importance of using personal protective equipment, such as gloves and gowns and ensuring regular and thorough handwashing among hospital staff.

“These are the steps that can interrupt this invisible kind of transmission,” he said. “We must take them seriously.”

This new research sends a clear message to hospitals: to prevent the spread of C. diff, it's not just about treating patients—it’s about tackling what they leave behind.

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